


Hidden memories

by Sweetlit



Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Empathy, Episode: s04e17 The Wall, Gay Sex, Gen, Heroes: Volume 4, Heroes: Volume 5, Kissing, Love, M/M, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Stolen Kiss, Telepathy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-23 13:55:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16160270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetlit/pseuds/Sweetlit
Summary: Peter had rushed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time: he and Sylar had just woken up from the nightmare Parkman had locked them into, and didn't have a second to waste.





	1. An unpredictable twist

**Author's Note:**

> accidental voyeurism by Matt XD
> 
> this is a translation of my Italian work "Ricordi nascosti", please forgive my bad English since it's not my first language!  
> R&R if you wish

Peter had rushed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time: he and Sylar had just woken up from the nightmare Parkman had locked them into, and didn't have a second to waste.  
Eli, Samuel's replicating henchman, had been waiting for them, attacking the empath and the former watchmaker in Matt's cellar.  
Fortunately, Peter had Matt's and Sylar's powers at his side, so Eli was taken out of the game in seconds.  
Now there was only one problem left: Peter was sure he had heard Matt's screams coming from above their heads, as they were fighting with Eli in the basement, so he had left Sylar to keep their enemy at bay, running to the upper floor to find out what the hell was going on.  
He had found Matt supine with what to his nurse eyes had immediately appeared as a dislocated knee.  
"Matt!" He screamed and hurried right away to help him. "Here, have a sit." He had added, placing a stool behind the cop, trying to make him raise as slowly as possible.  
"Eli. . . it was Eli. . . " had wheezed Matt, convulsely squeezing his left knee between his fingers, while he let himself fall on the seat.  
"Yeah, I know." Was the concise response of the empath, as he began to study his injured leg.  
"Just a dislocation." He had confirmed, letting go of his calf and putting it in a resting position.  
"Ah, fantastic. . . " had growled Matt in pain, tight-lipped.  
Suddenly, Eli's fainted body had smashed onto the floor beside them, followed in great career by Sylar, who had presented himself in all his telekinetic glory to the room.  
"What the HELL is he doing here?!" The former policeman had roared immediately, almost trying to jump to his feet, but immediately rethinking it after a violent fit. "I trapped him in a nightmare! It's impossible. . . YOU did it!" He had accused Peter, piercing him with his eyes.  
"It's a long story. . ." had attempted the nurse, but Sylar had instantly talked along with him, repeating his own identical sentence.  
Peter had slightly arched an eyebrow in the direction of the former killer, but he seemed to be too busy keeping an eye on Parkman to notice him.  
"Matt." Peter called him back "what we need now is to know where Samuel is and what he's up to. There's no time for this."  
"A lot of people are in danger." Sylar had added, worried.  
Peter had launched another look at him: he wasn't sure it was a good idea to let him talk so much at that moment, in the end it was Matt who had trapped him in his mind, and from the way he had received him, a few moments earlier, his opinion hadn't really changed in those nine hours.  
"You've got to read into his mind, Matt." He tried to steer the speech in the right direction, pointing at Eli. "Tell us what you see."  
"Why?" Parkman had hissed, snapping like a doberman at him. "So you two pals can take off being superheroes together? Come on, Peter!" He had opposed, but the empath had already given him his back to go and crouch next to Eli's inert body.  
"When you want something done right. . . " he murmured sarcastically, completing the proverb in his mind '. . . you have to do it yourself'.  
As if he had read his thoughts, Sylar, behind him, had telekinetically spinned Eli aroud, until he had his head pointed towards Peter's face, as if to make it easier for him to pry into his brain.  
Peter still had Matt's power after all.  
Exhaling most of the air he had in his lungs, Peter nodded to himself, closing his eyes to concentrate on the mind of the replicant lying before him: immediately thoughts began to flow, like a river to the sea.  
"Samuel will show the world his powers. . . in New York City. . . " he said, almost without realizing it, in a trance-like state "...in Central Park, TONIGHT!"  
He turned, instinctively looking for Sylar. It was close, too close, they had to do something!  
Emma was in danger.  
Sylar had blinked slightly, while a strange sparkle passed through his pupils, but it was only a fraction of a second before the worried expression regained its position on his face and said: "What does it mean that Samuel will show his powers to the world?"  
Peter stood up and watched him, the same concern reflected in his dark irises.  
"He will open the ground and bury them all." He replied, feeling suddenly a big lump in his throat.  
"Shit. . ." Sylar had cursed in a whisper. "It would seem almost like one of my old plans. . ." his voice cut in the middle of the sentence, realizing what he had just said.  
Despite the unhappy joke, Peter had flashed one of his asymmetrical smiles to him, while Matt had just incinerated him with a glance, roaring: "OLD?! Don't make us laugh, you fucking creep..."  
Sylar had folded back on himself under those words, taking an uncertain step towards the former policeman with a wounded expression.  
"I'm not that person anymore, Matt. . . I don't. . . I don't expect you to understand, but. . ."  
Parkman's countenance had remained unshakably glacial, causing his speech to die in his throat, when Peter had gently touched him on one shoulder to draw his attention.  
"Come on, they need our help."  
Sylar was almost on the move when Matt tackled them where they were.  
"If you leave with this murderer, many people will die and the blame will be on YOU, Peter. I can't let that happen!"  
The empath in response had shaken his head negatively, completely ignoring the telepath, giving instead another light blow to Sylar's back.  
"Let's go"he had whispered, pulling him away, but the former killer had turned around and shouted him:  
"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"  
The empath had barred his eyes, astounded.  
"What the hell are you talking about?!" He asked him, resentful.  
"It was me." Matt piped up with a knowing smirk. "See? I can still affect other people's thoughts. I told you, Peter, I have no intention of letting him out of here."  
Peter got his hands in his hair with an exasperated cry: they were just wasting precious time!  
"What the HELL, Matt!" He screamed at him, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel blood crawl between his palms.  
"Sylar killed your brother Peter, he killed NATHAN!"  
Peter had taken the hit with evident difficulty, as Sylar had perfectly noticed from his point of view.  
"I made amends for it." He had murmured, feeling more like a monster now than ever. Peter was in pain, he was hurting, and it was all his fault.  
"Yeah, right, when did it happen? During the nightmare I trapped you in? How long did it last, a couple of hours?" The other one had mocked him.  
Sylar had opened his mouth to protest, but Peter had unexpectedly inserted himself in the verbal confrontation, saying in his classic docile tone: "It's been different for us Matt, it's been five YEARS. Look, we can stop Samuel. We know what he's up to!"  
"I don't expect you to understand what happened in the nightmare." Sylar had added, encouraged by the words of the nurse. "Nor for you to forgive me..."  
"Good, because it will NEVER happen!" Parkman sassed, looking at him more and more disgusted.  
"Matt, please! I made a mistake, I made so many mistakes. . . this is my chance to redeem myself. Let me do it!" The former killer had begged him, surprising himself with his miserable tone. The truth was, he really wanted Matt to trust him, because he'd really changed, changed for good.  
There was only one way.  
"Get in my head. Look at my thoughts and you'll see that I'm not lying." He had invited the telepath without hesitation.  
He wasn't afraid of him, he wasn't afraid of anything anymore.  
Matt had looked at him, vaguely shaking his head, reticent. He had cast a glance at Peter, who had nodded encouragingly.  
The former policeman had let out a big sigh, slowly closing his eyes, abandoning himself to his power.  
Sylar had felt him come in, had sensed the intrusion, but hadn't stopped him, although he almost certainly could have.  
He had felt him digging violently, in the meanders of his own mind, looking in every corner, studying every detail. When the search turned out to be unsuccessful, Matt continued to dig, undaunted, reaching memories that had remained dormant since his childhood: a dark attic. A dirty old mattress. Smells like dust and old books. The old clock that was always running two minutes late...  
'See?' He thought, knowing that Matt would hear him. 'It's all here. See that, Matt?'  
'What I see is the chaos of your perverse mind, not your heart.' The telepath had replied coldly, moving from his childhood relics to go search elsewhere.  
'What' s this?' He then asked when he suddenly found himself in front of a door obstructed by bricks, very similar to the ones he'd used to build the wall down in the basement.  
Sylar had felt a surge of panic clench his guts.  
'No. . . ' he had shouted in his mind. 'No! Not that!'  
'What the hell is in there, you bastard!' The other one had screamed, knowing that he had managed to finally uncover some dirty secret.  
"Matt?" Peter had called, alarmed. Sylar had felt his gentle touch on his arm, while his voice had arrived as something distant, indefinite.  
'Let me see.' Matt had commanded, using his ability at maximum power.  
'No. . . I don't want to!' The watchmaker refused, raising every single possible barrier in front of that one door.  
He didn't think he had that memory still with him, he had promised to remove it from his mind, to close it in the most remote corner of his being, and yet there it was, brazen as a kick on the teeth, that mocked and threatened him in all his greatness. 'Let me IN, I said!' Matt had imposed, collapsing one by one all of his defenses, until he'd reached the bricks on the door, which had crumbled like dust under his telepathic fingers.  
'Matt! NOOO. . . !' Sylar kept screaming desperately, but it was too late. He was already in.  
Parkman had looked around, surprised at how the atmosphere had suddenly changed: there was an incredible silence there, in what seemed to be the apartment that he'd recreated a few hours earlier in the killer's mind, to trap him inside.  
The numerous clocks were the only sound that marked the passage of time, while everything else remained unchanged. The living room where the watchmaker's work tools lay unused seemed deserted, as did the narrow kitchen, with the abandoned coffee in two cups on the side of one of the shelves, and the bedroom, where the perfectly matching sheets slept motionlessly over the cushions.  
Matt was almost about to give up figuring out what the hell was going on, or what that memory should have been about, when a smothered thud had come from the only room with the door slightly ajar.  
Matt knew far too well that room: it was supposed to be Sylar's biggest warning, because it was the exact copy of what his mother's bedroom had been. He knew the primal fear it generated into Sylar, he had read it in his mind, before building that fake world, so when it had come to find yet another instrument of torture, he had not hesitated to use it.  
He had pushed the door inward, entering, but nothing would ever have prepared him for the scene he was about to witness: Peter was lying supine on the huge mahogany bed, asleep, the blankets entangled with the trousers of his pajamas, the T-shirt raised slightly to discover an imperceptible corner of his navel.  
His hair had fallen into a rebellious mass on his forehead, while his eyelids remained closed on his dark eyes, his long eyelashes caressing his high cheekbones. The mouth was relaxed, devoid of the classic asymmetry that characterized it when he was awake and the left arm was raised, the hand open next to the resting face.  
Matt had diverted his attention from Peter only when he had heard another noise coming from his left.  
Sylar was sitting at the foot of the bed.  
Alarmed, Matt had almost instinctively called for Peter, when Sylar had slowly moved across the twisted bedspread to get closer to the empath.  
He had stretched his left hand very slowly towards him, panting slightly, moving the rebellious strand of hair from his forehead, with a delicacy that would have surprised anyone who had witnessed it.  
Afterwards, he had placed his palm on one of Peter's exposed hips, caressing him lightly.  
Matt had ogled stunned the whole intimate scene, while Sylar had folded back as if in slow motion on top of Peter, stopping to briefly smell the space between his neck and ear, before immobilizing himself a few inches from his face.  
His hand had reprised its journey across the other one's body, crawling towards the chin of the sleeping man, who had whispered some inconsistent words in his sleep, turning him in his direction. Sylar had slowly closed the remaining gap between them, kissing Peter lightly on the mouth, letting go of a withheld sigh once he had managed to detach himself.  
He had observed the expression of the nurse, who seemed to have remained unfazed and continued his slumber undisturbed, snoring softly.  
'I love you, Peter.' He had whispered to him, so low that Matt would've almost believed to have misheard him, had it not been for the unequivocal look in his pupils.  
Sylar had then suddenly turned around, with Peter still in his arms, and shouted him: 'Get THE FUCK out of my head!' and Matt had felt thrown out of the mind of the former killer, until he'd found himself again in the real world.  
He had blinked a couple of times, unable to elaborate what he had just seen.  
In front of him, Sylar, with Peter holding him by the arm, was staring back at him with a defeated look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note january 2019: made a few much needed corrections XD  
> leave a review if you wish! Thank you


	2. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning; lots of slash, explicit sex XD

Matt Parkman shook his head, watching Peter Petrelli walk out of the door almost hand in hand with his brother's murderer.  
He was too naive.  
All right, Sylar MAY have seemed different, but what Matt had seen in his head was strange, disturbing.  
It wasn't normal.  
No one in their right mind had that tangled up mess in their brains.  
Nevertheless, he had let the nurse leave his home to go and save the world, because, after all, there were many lives at stake, and he couldn't let his paranoia towards the serial killer decide for them all.  
So, not without concern for the empath, he had let them both go on their ways, hoping only that what Peter seemed to firmly believe was true, or there would be major consequences on the horizon.  
\---------------------  
Months had passed since they had defeated Samuel.  
Sylar had moved in to live with Peter, in a two-room apartment hidden in a corner of Manhattan. Things were going smoothly, without excessive ups and downs, at least until that day.  
Peter had just slammed the door while exiting the house after their violent fight.  
"Why are you doing this?" Sylar had said. "Peter, our powers are not something to be ashamed of! We should be proud! We're different, we're. . . "  
"What? "SPECIAL?" Peter yelled back. "You don't understand! Samuel put us in the eye of the storm, drawing people's attention on our abilities! I've seen these things before, Sylar, I've seen what's going to happen and. . . believe me, it won't end well. For none of us" he had bowed his head with despair, as if lingering in a horrible memory.  
"Peter, the whole future isn't already predestined. You know it, I know it, even Hiro knows it! Look at all the things he was able to change, just by doing. . . " Sylar had tried to explain himself.  
It was all clear and straightforward, why couldn't Peter see it? Why did he have to be so negative about the future? He really didn't get it.  
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" The younger man had confirmed his thoughts, smashing a piece of furniture straight on the ground in his explosive rage.  
Sylar had blinked, taken aback by that sudden bout of violence.  
Peter had growled like a lion, giving his back to him and leaving the apartment.  
"Where are you going?! PETER" Sylar had called him, feeling the world collapse on him.  
"Away from here!" Was the answer, muffled by the door already closed.  
The watchmaker had sat on the only chair in the room, his head squeezed between his hands.  
\----------------  
When Peter came back, night was already falling.  
"Where have you been?" Sylar asked him, closing the book he was reading violently on the table.  
"Outside. " The empath had mumbled, after a long silent look full of hatred.  
Sylar had made a mocking sound, laying down maliciously the cup of tea he was drinking next to the abandoned tome.  
"What?" The nurse was immediately blown up, his eyes fixed on him.  
The former killer had turned his head, piercing him through with his dark irises.  
"I know you've been with HER. " He growled at him in an accusatory tone.  
Peter had almost denied it, but the sparkle in Sylar's pupils convinced him not to try his luck. "Stop getting in my head!" He'd imposed him, really pissed off at that point.  
"I only do it because you exclude me AND WON'T SPEAK TO ME. " The watchmaker had raised the volume, leaping up and taking long strides towards him.  
"If I don't, it's only because I've had ENOUGH! I'm sick of having you around, sick of having always to listen to you, sick of having to hold your hand as if you were a child for anything you do! I'm not your mother Sylar, and especially NOT YOUR FRIEND!" Peter had exploded, almost crumbling the walls with his screams.  
"Just because we spent five fucking years in that nightmare, it doesn't mean we're best friends now! I forgave you for. . . what you did to Nathan, but if you hope to gain anything else from me... you're wrong." He continued, pointing at him with an accusatory finger, before turning his back on him to lock himself in his bedroom.  
Sylar had stood still in the middle of the living room for a few moments, before making a decision and promptly leave the apartment.  
Once in the hallway, he had stopped to wait for the elevator, and when the doors had opened, he had almost screamed: he had never seen himself cry before.  
\----------------------  
Peter spent the next few days looking for his former flatmate.  
He felt terribly guilty about what he had said to him, and knew in his heart that in reality he had meant to shout those words at himself more than at Sylar, because it was what his brain needed to hear.  
Anything would have been a lot easier to hear than the truth.  
When he had finally captured Sylar's mental wave, after hours and hours of research, he'd almost risked going into cardiac arrest.  
"Oh, no. " He had murmured, running as fast as possible in the direction of the watchmaker. "No,no,no,no,no. "  
\----------------------  
Sylar had sighed, opening his eyes, keeping his victim firmly planted against the wall, just where he wanted him.  
The boy had whined, choked with terror, his blue eyes barred and fixed in his own.  
Sylar could feel his power flowing through the floors and walls (he could control water, just like Tracy), like it was the most addicting of the drugs.  
He had lowered his eyelids, enjoying the moment, One part of his brain was screaming, screaming loudly not to do it, that he was no longer that person, but he had ignored it, calling among his many powers the one of telekinesis, the first from a long series of stolen abilities.  
He had heard the Hunger mount inside of him, as he lifted his index finger towards the boy's forehead, remembering only for a moment how he had once had Peter in that same position too.  
PETER.  
He had slowly blinked, shaking his head.  
Peter had seen something which no longer existed. He was SYLAR; and he didn't deserve to be loved.  
\-------------------------  
"SYLAR!" had shouted Peter with all the will he had in his body, crashing through the door behind the killer.  
The watchmaker had turned in his direction, a sad smile all over his face.  
"Have you come to stop me like you used to?" He whispered in a tone of defeat. "It's too late now, Peter."  
"NO. No, Sylar! Let him go, you're not like that anymore!" The empath shook his head, approaching him without fear.  
Sylar had telekinetically choked him, while continuing to hold a firm grip on his potential victim with the other hand.  
"S-Sylar. . . " had sobbed Peter, bringing his hands to his throat.  
"You can no longer save me, Peter. This is who I am. A murderer. A fucking serial killer. " He heard his voice break. "I'm sorry."  
"No, you're not!" The nurse had managed to snort without ever taking his brown eyes off his own.  
"I am." He had countered, turning back to the blond boy, who had witnessed the appalling exchange.  
"Then kill me." The empath had whispered him, so softly that hadn't it been for his superhearing, Sylar would never have heard him. "Let him go. Take me. "  
The man had looked at him in shock, but when he had seen the expression, determined and incredibly gentle at the same time, in the irises of the other, he had lifted his grip on the neck of the hydrocontroller.  
"Forgive me, Jesse. " he murmured him. "Get out, run, before it's too late."  
The boy had collapsed trembling to the ground, but had found the strength to abandon the place quickly.  
"You're never gonna change, aren't you, Peter?" Sylar had exhaled, shrugging his shoulders.  
"I won't. . . but you already have. " The empath had whispered, taking a deep breath as Sylar loosened the telekinetic grip on his neck.  
"No, I. . . I have not, unfortunately. " He'd shaken like a leaf, giving his back to the nurse.  
"Yes, you have! You've saved the world. . . and you didn't hurt that boy, even if you could have. " Peter had incited him, taking him by the shoulders and turning him towards him.  
"No. . . hadn't it been for you. . . " the watchmaker had shamefully bowed his head, failing to meet the other's gaze.  
"But I was there, Sylar. And I always will be. " Peter interrupted, unexpectedly hugging him.  
"That's not fair, and you know it. I can't put that burden on you. You were right, the other day, you're not my mother, and you're not even my friend, I can't expect you to. . . "  
"You're right. I may not be your mother, and maybe not even your friend, but. . . " the other seemed to be stuck in an eternal reverie.  
"Peter. . . ?" Sylar called him, alarmed.  
"I'm sorry I hurt you the other day. I didn't mean to. " Peter confessed. "The truth is, I. . . I didn't want to admit it to myself either, I guess. "  
Sylar had stared at the nurse in fierce distress at that point.  
"Peter, what are you trying to tell me. . . ?"  
"All those years we spent together in the wall. . . made me realize. . . I. . . "  
Sylar had lost control of his telekinesis, for the first time in ten years, by blowing the glass of the painting behind them.  
"I'm sorry" he half-smiled, a couple of glasses on the coffee table at the entrance wobbling dangerously as well.  
Peter had looked at the man who had been in front of him in the five years they'd spent in the nightmare. He couldn't ignore it anymore.  
He got up slightly on his toes and kissed him shyly on the mouth.  
Sylar's reaction was immediate, as if he had been struck by lightning: at first he had pulled back, surprised, then he had flashed him that smile that only a few could see, open and honest, before holding him in his big arms and kissing him open-mouthed.  
Peter had desperately clung to his neck, pushing his tongue against his, sighing lightly.  
Sylar had passed a hand between the rebel strands of his hair, pulling on them almost violently, making him whine in his mouth, his other palm coming down to caress that incredible firm butt that made him just go crazy.  
Peter had whispered something incomprehensible, pushing his growing erection against his thigh, moaning in pleasure, detaching himself from him for a moment to kiss a fiery trail down his neck, just under his ear.  
Sylar had leaned against the wall behind them for support, but Peter had pulled him in the opposite direction, towards a chair.  
He had slipped the coat from the watchmaker's shoulders, stroking his chest and putting his hands under his shirt, making him shiver.  
Sylar had returned to kiss him possessively, pushing his tongue all the way down his throat, while Peter moved his hot fingers from his navel into his pants, holding him tight between his fingers, causing him to lose his mind.  
Peter had murmured inconsistently on his lips, when he had lifted him a few inches off the floor by the buttocks, bringing their erections into contact through his pants.  
They had stalled like that for a few seconds, then Peter had pushed him away, making him fall down on the seat behind his long legs.  
He'd slowly unbuttoned his pants and lowered them languidly around his hips, while Sylar, hypnotized, did the same with his own.  
When he had finished, Peter had mounted on top of his open thighs, kissing him again, biting his earlobe and blowing into his ear "Fuck me"  
Sylar had obeyed, taking him by the hips and slowly lowering Peter on his crotch: it had been difficult at first, they had not used anything and Peter would certainly feel it the next day.  
"Are you okay?" Sylar asked, looking at him in the face.  
"Yes. . . it's nothing. "  
After the first defaiance, Peter had started to move on him, riding him hard, groaning in pleasure as he'd moved on him, screaming his name. Towards the end, he had placed his hands backwards, on his knees, arching more and increasing the angle, completely lost in the rhythm.  
Sylar had raised a knee, grabbing his ass and brutally shifting him to help him reach the best position, making Peter raise his voice by two tones, the chair cracking dangerously under their joined weight.  
Peter had called out, staring at him with his incredible eyes.  
"Sylar. . . I'm. . . " he had exhaled, silenced by the thunderous kiss that the other one had crashed into his mouth.  
"Yes" growled Sylar, biting into his neck until he bled. "Come on. . . let me hear it... "  
Peter had convulsely contracted on him, shouting against his shoulder, while Sylar impaled him almost cruelly on his shaft and came swearing in turn.  
After several minutes of complete silence, where Peter had slightly rubbed his cheek against the one of the former killer and Sylar had kissed him gently on the chin, the empath had hidden his face against the inside of his elbow.  
"Do you understand now?" he'd asked him, a look that told many unspoken words.  
Sylar had just watched him.  
"I'm sorry, maybe I shouln't have. . . " Peter had shrugged, getting up.  
Sylar had stopped him, holding him by the arm.  
"I understand. Please, stay with me." he'd whispered, kissing the corner of his mouth that always formed the asymmetrical crease.  
Peter had smiled.


End file.
